One of those was Brandon Inge suiting up in a green No. 18 jersey for the Oakland A’s on Monday, after agreeing to a one-year contract.

“It’s a good feeling, but at the same time it’s different,” Inge told The Associated Press. “Just spending that long in one organization, it’s part of my home. But the business side of it is: sometimes you’ve got to realize when the end is. This is a better fit for me right now, and I’m happy to be here. I was a fan of this team when I was a kid, too. I remember watching Rickey Henderson.”

For all that he was 2-for-20 in nine games for the Tigers, that was still lightyears ahead of what the Athletics were putting out at third base offensively, after another former Tiger, Scott Sizemore, injured his knee in the spring.

Advertisement

The three guys Inge essentially replaced — Josh Donaldson, Eric Sogard and Luke Hughes — were hitting a combined .111 at the time of the transaction, and slugging a whopping .197 through the start of Tuesday’s game.

Several Tigers players got in contact with their former teammate. Manager Jim Leyland hadn’t had a chance yet, but got a chance to watch Inge’s Oakland debut on TV when the Tigers’ game Monday was rained out.

“I will call him. I saw him hit one time last night on TV, hit a ball pretty good to centerfield, but it was caught. He had a decent night, obviously. I think he’ll be fine,” Leyland said. “He’s back in his comfort zone at third base, and he’s gonna get a lot of reps, and good for him. I’m happy for him. I know all the guys are happy for him, I know Justin (Verlander) texted him or talked to him. It’s great.”

Inge, of course, was released last Thursday by the Tigers after a slow start to his 12th season with the team. The organization will be on the hook for the majority of his $5 million salary plus the $500,000 buyout for next year. The A’s will pick up the pro-rated portion of the MLB veteran’s minimum salary of $480,000.

Much like Inge insisted that there was no hard feelings with his former organization, his longtime manager wished him well, too.

“I would have been happy for him, whether he handled everything well or not, but he handled things as well as you possibly could. Sometimes, it’s time. He wants to play. He’s an athlete, he’s active. He wants to play. And now he’s going to get a chance to,” Leyland said. “I thought he made a great comment: When we moved Cabrera to third, was it the end for Brandon? No, but it was going to be a totally different situation, which I didn’t think, in the end, he was going to be real happy with. I mean, he did all the right things, he said all the right things, he worked. But he’s an athlete. He wants to play. He’s a competitor. He wants to be in the action. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

But wasn’t it weird to see him in a different uniform?

“No. And I’ll tell you why: The game’s changed. If that would’ve been 40, 50 years ago, then probably, yeah. When a guy got traded, yeah. But with free agency and everything, with the way guys get moved, no,” Leyland said.

“I look at things differently. I look at my memories with Brandon, and I’ll cherish them forever, at a time in my career, probably when it’s over, go back and say, ‘I can remember this home run he hit,’ or I can remember something Brandon said that was funny, or something he did that was funny, or some relationship that we had, whether it be an argument or happy, or whatever.

“But in today’s world of baseball, it’s not uncommon to see other people in another uniform.”

YOUNG WON’T PLAY FRIDAY

While Delmon Young’s MLB-imposed seven-day suspension expires before Friday’s game, manager Jim Leyland said the outfielder won’t be in the lineup that day.

But it’s just a matter of giving him some more time to work back into the swing of things.

“He needs to get back in the routine a little, you know, out on the field, taking fly balls, BP on the field, all that kind of stuff. So it’s very unlikely he’d play Friday. Now, would I put him in the game, if I needed to? Sure. But he won’t start Friday’s game. That’s the only reason, only because he needs to get back, get some BP, run around the outfield a little bit,” Leyland said.

“I think he’ll be in there very shortly. But, like I said, I want him to get back acclimated. It’s not like he’s been off that long. I think you’ll see him in the lineup real soon, but he will not be in the lineup to start Friday.”

SCHLERETH HID INJURY

Sometimes, there’s a very valid reason to explain a guy’s struggles.

When Daniel Schlereth went on the disabled list in Toledo over the weekend, less than a week after being sent down to iron out his control difficulties, it may have been a little easier to explain his 10.29 ERA in seven innings of work.

The official diagnosis was shoulder tendinitis.

But it was the first the Tigers had heard of it.

“Did I have any suspicion? Absolutely none. To my knowledge, he hasn’t been on one (injury) report all spring,” said manager Jim Leyland, who gets daily updates on every nick, bruise and ailment.

“The one thing I learned a long time ago, if somebody tells you they’re hurt, they’re hurt. Don’t ever question it. But the only problem with this situation is, he never told anyone he was hurt up here.

If somebody hides it, you might be suspicious, but if you ask them, and they tell you ‘no, I’m fine’ well, then what’re you gonna do? That’s just the way it is.”

For a guy who’d been up and down three times in his first two years with the Tigers, and three times in his lone year with the Diamondbacks, there could be a valid reason to hide something minor.

“I suppose some guys want to stay in the big leagues, so they try to get through some stuff. ... But the first time, to my knowledge, that anybody at the major league level heard anything about Schlereth (being hurt), was after he went down to Toledo. So that’s Schlereth’s fault,” Leyland said.

“But, I also admire guys that try (to play through it). You know, Bondo (Jeremy Bonderman) was hurt a little bit, didn’t want to tell anybody, because he was a trooper. I think Schlereth’s a trooper, and I think he was probably hoping to get by, and wanted to stay in the big leagues like everybody does, so I don’t fault him.”

Zach Miner, acquired from the Royals for cash 10 days ago, was promoted from Double-A Erie to Toledo to take Schlereth’s spot on the Mud Hens’ roster.

SHORT HOPS

Andy Dirks had his left hamstring tighten up on him as he legged out a poorly-played fly ball to left for a double. Dirks came out of the game and is day-to-day. Brad Eldred made his first career pinch-running appearance replacing Dirks, and scored on Jhonny Peralta’s RBI single.